Voluntary and Other Acquisitions

Acquisitions commonly occur by a commercial lease or by purchase of property available in the market. These commercial transactions include:

lease of office space to accommodate Commonwealth functions;

purchase of residences to accommodate staff; and

transfer of Commonwealth-owned property between agencies.

No special process is involved with this type of commercial transaction, although such transactions require authorisation under the Lands Acquisition Act 1989 [] .

On occasions an authority may need to acquire, for a public purpose, an interest in land that is not available in the market. These 'off-market' acquisitions may occur by negotiated agreement or by compulsory process.

Acquisitions by agreement require a pre-acquisition declaration as set out in section 40 of the Lands Acquisition Act 1989.